Wynns Cabernet Sauvignon 1998

KeithT · Post by **KeithT** » Wed Jan 18, 2006 9:50 pm

Thought it was time to try one of these to see how it is getting on. Decanted for about an hour before tasting.

Medium to deep red with pink edge. Light cherry and ground almond with hints of dried herbs, coffee and tobacco. Mostly cherry and red berry flavours on the palate which is medium bodied and well enough balanced. Drying tannins and light oak on finish.

This seems to be going through a bit of a phase. The primary fruit flavours are dropping away but developed flavours aren't there in any concentration yet. Suggest leaving a few years and hopefully it will build and climb out of its hole. Only an 88/100 right now.

Has anyone else tried this recently?

Cheers,
KeithT

Andrew Jordan · Post by **Andrew Jordan** » Wed Jan 18, 2006 10:57 pm

Keith,

Tried this in October of '05. Tasting note below. Rated it 91 points but definitely agree with you that it needs a few more years. Definitely a wine that currently needs a very long decant to show its best.

Decantered for well over an hour. A fair bit of sediment was present in the wine, and it had started to crust on the shoulder of the bottle. Colour was glowing, a deep, dark red. The wine definitely took itÃƒâ€šÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s time to open up. But after some time, it started to wake up and show itself. Definitely had herbaceous overtones but black fruits, dark chocolate and earth aromas started to come to the forefront with some time in the decanter. Initially tasted after decantered and I was not impressed at all, very bitter, green and disjointed. Left for an hour and retried. Fortunately, the ugly duckling had disappeared replaced by an emerging swan. Although still not fully integrated, this wine nearly has it all. Well balanced with a complex palate of blackcurrants, plums and dark chocolate, fine, powdery tannis, and good use of oak. Nice finish but not overly long. No taste of age or decline - still a youngster - and has a bit of room for improvement but not much, maybe a couple of years. Though saying this it definitely has a many years in front of it. Will try another in 2 years time, and probably drink the rest over the next 7 years after this.

KeithT · Post by **KeithT** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 9:45 am

Andrew,

Thanks for your feedback.

Basically it sounds like this wine will definitely improve with more age and/or longer decanting. Will leave my next one for about 2 years before trying again.

KeithT

Broughy · Post by **Broughy** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 3:17 pm

Keith, The initial tasting was brilliant fantastic depth of fruit flavour and profile. I was very distressed upon tasting this after a couple of years in the cellar, the fruit was not a patch and as you say nothing else had taken its place. The good news is that I have tried a couple since and it has improved markedly each time. I too believ it is climbing out of a hole and will be excellent in time

KeithT · Post by **KeithT** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 3:51 pm

Broughy, Hopefully it will improve over time. By the sound of it your cellar may be a little warmer on average than mine resulting in quicker development.

KeithT

davidg · Post by **davidg** » Sun Jan 22, 2006 5:56 pm

Opened a bottle of this just the other night. Didn't take any notes but AJ's description sounds pretty close to my experience.

mphatic · Post by **mphatic** » Thu Feb 09, 2006 2:45 pm

Due to the large discrepancy between tasting notes for this wine lately, I thought IÃƒâ€šÃ¢â‚¬â„¢d open one for myself and check out its progression for the first time since cellaring. Not decanted; couldnÃƒâ€šÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t be bothered, but it was allowed to sit in the glass for a while as the night progressed.

Deep red with pink at rim. Initially, a light nose of spicy cedar, raspberry, blackcurrant and strawberry. Given a little time in the glass, the aromas really built up and became quite powerful, with the cassis and blackberry, and dark chocolate overtaking the raspberry and cedar. Similar on the palate, but with a bit of vanilla. After even more time, relatively powerful tobacco/cigar aromas came to the fore. In the mouth, the fruit was ripe, though slightly faded (from youth), and the dusty tannins still prominent. Enough acidity for the long haul, and nicely judged oak usage. I hear the concerns over fading fruit and nothing to replace it, but I think that the tobacco and spice give hints of things to come. No problems here, just have some faith and give it some more time.

Gregoire · Post by **Gregoire** » Fri Feb 10, 2006 6:31 pm

What's the consensus here? Used to be a very reliable drop, excellent cellaring potential, good value. The 1998 was OK, then things went a bit south as the price went north? Is the 2002 a return to form for this wine?